Reading to Change the Future
by Selene's daughter
Summary: summary inside
1. Prologue

**Author's Note: Hey guys. Here's the first chapter to the rewrite of my story. I thought I'd go ahead and put it up. Oh, and just to let you know, Fred and George will be with a third person (not Harry) as they will be Idem Gemini twins. I have been given permission from Michally to use it so no flaming me about it please.**

_Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter series. I only own the idea of this story._

_Summary: In the year 2020, the war has torn apart the wizarding world, with most of Harry's friend's dead. In a last attempt to change the outcome of the war, Hermione sends Harry along with seven books to the year before all the adventures started. Along the way, new questions will be raised and new love found. Can the war be stopped before it begins? What about Harry? Are the Potter's his real family? And if not, who are they?_

_Key:_

**Book**

_**Added bits to the book**_

_Spells, letters, newspaper ads_

~parseltongue~

_Warnings: Dumbledore/Bashing, Molly, Ron, and Ginny/Bashing. Mentions of mpreg._

Prologue

Harry collapsed in a chair, breathing hard. The latest rescue mission had gone badly, with only three rescuers and prisoners each making it back to the compound. He sighed, brushing a strand of sweaty hair out of his face, wishing that he'd been able to end the war earlier, to help stop the losses. He had learned some interesting things from the goblins when he turned 17 and 23 years later the resistance was using one of the Potter homes as a base and makeshift hospital.

"Don't worry, Harry, we'll beat him soon." Hermione said, sitting in a chair nearby.

"There has to be a way to either redo the entire war and stop all the losses and keep it from ever happening." Neville said, leaning against a pillar.

Hermione jumped up, eyes lit with the same excitement as when their first homework had come back in first year. "Nev, that's it!" She said, grabbing a book of spells of the nearby shelf. "We can send something, possibly books, along with someone to explain about our adventures and the war. It will have to be early, probably before our first year. We can stop the war, and save a bunch of lives."

Neville tilted his head, curious. "What do you mean?" He asked.

"A time transference spell. We can use it and send them back in time." She said, flipping through the pages.

"That's a good idea, Hermione." Harry said, sitting up straighter. Who would we use it on though?

"I'd say you, Harry. You did have most of the adventures." Neville said. "It would probably do the most good."

"That's actually a good idea, Nev." Hermione said, nodding. She jumped up, and started to search for supplies. "I found the spell. Help me gather the ingredients and we can start." She said.

Neville and Harry hurried to help. They began to set up an area near the middle of the room with a candle, incense, a gem, and a bowel of water at four different compass points in a circle.

"Wait, what will we tell Luna?" Harry asked, worried.

"She probably already knows, Harry. She's smarter then she looks." Hermione said, nodding at the formation. "All right, once the spell is cast, the books will appear in your hands then you'll get sent back to the time we want. The people who will be reading as well will appear in a room similar to the RoR, except that it can provide food and comfort. Make sure to let them know that time is stopped out of the room until the final word is read. You ready?" Hermione asked.

"As I'll ever be," Harry sighed, moving to the middle of the circle.

Neville nodded, moving over to where the gem was as Hermione took the point at the northern most part of the circle, where the incense was.

Hermione read out the spell, concentrating. Bright lights began to surround Harry, seven books appearing in his arms, each thicker than the last. They also had a different title. Suddenly, the light glowed brightly, and when it was gone, Harry along with the books were gone.

(30 years in the past)

An abandoned room filled with multiple lights that soon disappeared, showing the Granger family, a stern looking woman with her hair in a bun (her name was Minerva McGonagall), a man in a pinstriped suit who was the Minister of Magic, Cornelius Fudge, the Weasley's, Draco and Narcissa Malfoy, a man with light brown hair that had gray streaks in it and amber eyes (Remus Lupin), the Tonks', a big bear-like dog who looked around, surprised, Severus Snape, a man with greasy hair, shallow skin, and black eyes, Amelia and Susan Bones, Albus Dumbledore, the Greengrasses', and Augusta and Neville Longbottom.

Before anyone could move, a bright golden light filled the room, depositing a family of four. The man looked like a walrus, while the only woman in the group had a horse-like appearance to her. One of the boys was like a miniature pig while the other was extremely thin, and trying to pull his arm out of the adult male's arm.

"I didn't do it, Uncle Vernon." The black-haired child said, fear evident in his eyes.

"You'll pay, Boy." Vernon snarled. "I lost a good deal thanks to your freakishness." He slapped the child hard across the face, sending him back against the wall.

The child bit his lip, trying not to cry out in pain. The dog snarled at the man and ran towards the child, transforming back into his human form as he went.

Wands pointed at the man, fury evident in the wizard's faces. "How dare you strike a child?" Remus snarled, his amber eyes glowing. Those who knew about his condition knew he was trying to keep the wolf at bay.

"I dare, _freak_," Vernon spat, "because that boy is a freak and waste of space."

Harry whimpered, shrinking back against the wall even as Sirius tried to calm him down.

"We'll deal with him later, Minister. Right now, we have someone to protect." Snape said, glaring at Sirius. That brought the adult's attentions back to Sirius and Harry, some of the wands moving to point at him.

"I'll answer what you want later, Snivellous," Sirius growled, glaring at him. "Right now, Harry is my priority."

Minerva put her wand away, walking towards the pair. "Hello, Harry, my name is Minerva McGonagall. I knew your parents." She said, kneeling near him.

Harry tilted his head, looking at her. "You knew my parents?" He asked quietly. "Did they really die in a car accident?" He flinched back suddenly, expecting to be struck for asking a question.

Minerva's eyes flashed, glaring at the Dursley's. "Whatever your _family_," she said, hissing slightly, "told you about them dyeing is a lie; I knew your parents and they loved you very much."

"Severus, perhaps you can give Sirius some Veritaserum and we can ask him what happened." Dumbledore said.

As Snape reached into his pocket, a golden light filled the room. Once it vanished, people noticed a man riddled with scars standing in the room, holding a set of books.

The man looked around and smiled. "Looks like Hermione was right. It did work." He murmured then frowned. "Though I doubt all the readers are actually here right now. I wonder why."

"What the…?" Charlie asked, bringing the man's attention to him. He smiled.

"Sorry about that. We needed you brought here to stop a terrible war that will start in five years." He said.

"Who are you?" Severus asked, glaring at him.

"I'm Ha… I mean I'm Hadrian Evan's." Harry said. "I'm from the future. You and I are all here to read books about a person here in this room."

"Why?" Sirius asked.

"To stop a war." Was the answer.

"Oh. Wait, what war?"

"One that will happen in the future and is still happening; it claims most of the people in this room. We'll be stuck in this room except for a few exceptions to read all the books. Don't worry, time will be stopped and the room will provide us with food and rooms to sleep in the time we're here." Harry said.

Dumbledore looked at him and nodded. "Al right, let's make the most of our time here and start reading." He said.

People began moving to provided chairs, the children sitting on the floor.

"I'll start." Hadrian said. (So as to differentiate between the two Harry's the one from the future will be known as Hadrian). He picked up the book and began to read. "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone; chapter one – The Boy Who Lived." He gulped.

**Author's note: Well, here's the first chapter of the rewrite. Hope this does better. Let me know what you think.**


	2. Chapter 1-the boy who lived

**Author's note: hey guys. We'll here's the first official chapter of my rewrite and I hope you guys like this. I promise to try and do better this time around with the chapters. I have figured out what kind of creature Harry will be. The only thing someone might recognize about it is the name, as I came up with the creature itself. If it has already been used though, let me know. **

**Enjoy this chapter and any feedbacks would be appreciated. Thanks guys!**

**Disclaimer in the prologue**

_Key:_

**Book**

_**Added bits to the book**_

_Spells letters, newspaper ads_

~parseltongue~

**Chapter 1 – The Boy Who Lived**

Hadrian picked up the book and began to read. "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone. **Chapter 1 – The Boy Who Lived"**

"Gee, I wonder who that is, Forge." Fred said.

"So do I, Gred, so do I." George agreed.

The kids giggled as Hadrian cleared his throat.

**Mr. and Mrs. Dursley of Number Four, Privet Drive were proud to say they were perfectly normal, thank you very much.**

"Your very welcome." Hermione said.

Fred and George started laughing. "Nice one." They said.

Hermione blushed.

**They were the last people you'd expect to be involved in anything strange or mysterious because they didn't hold with such nonsense.**

"What does that mean, Mr. Evans?" Cornelius asked Hadrian.

Hadrian sighed, rubbing the bridge of his nose. "They hate anything they count as abnormal, including magic. They always have." Hadrian said.

The Dursley's glared at him.

**Mr. Dursley was a director of a firm called Grunnings, which made drills.**

"What are drills?" Arthur asked with excitement in his voice.

"Muggles use them to help build things since they don't have access to magic. There will probably be some more Muggle things so please wait to ask about them at the end of the book or the very least the chapter." Hadrian said.

Arthur nodded.

"How do you know that, Mr. Evans?" Severus asked, an eyebrow rose.

"I was raised in the Muggle world, though my adopted dad was a pureblood. My adopted mum was a Muggleborn and her family _raised_ me." He answered.

Severus narrowed his eyes at how he emphasized 'raised', but motioned for him to continue.

"Wait, what's a Muggle?" Jean asked, curious.

"It's another name for a mundane, someone who can't do magic. Magical children born to them are called Muggleborns." Minerva said.

"Oh, thanks." Jean said.

David nodded in agreement. "Jean and I don't mind helping explaining then." He said.

Arthur's eyes lit up.

"Not now, Arthur." Molly huffed, rolling her eyes.

Hadrian began to read again before a fight broke out.

**He was a big, beefy man with hardly any neck, although he did have a very large mustache. Mrs. Dursley was thin and blonde and had twice the usual amount of neck, which came in very useful as spent so much of her time craning over the garden fences, spying on the neighbors.**

"Lovely." Charlie said, his nose wrinkled in distaste.

Vernon glared at him but said nothing.

'Looks like Tuney hasn't changed much.' Severus mused silently.

**The Dursleys had a small son called Dudley and in their opinion there was no finer boy anywhere.**

Hadrian snorted at that sentiment. Dudley? Small?

"More like a baby pig." Bill said, snorting as well.

"William Weasley!" Molly shouted, aggravated.

"What?" He asked eyes wide.

She groaned.

**The Dursleys had everything they wanted, but they also had a secret, and their greatest fear was that somebody would discover it.**

"That your all animals in disguise?" Daphne asked.

"Daphne!" Her mother gasped.

"What? It was an innocent question." She said.

"Nice one." Fred and George said, laughing.

Daphne grinned at them.

Vernon glared, starting to turn purple in the face.

**They didn't think they could bare it if anyone found out about the Potters.**

"There's nothing wrong with James and Lily." Sirius growled, sounding a bit like a dog.

Harry shrunk away from him, leaning closer to the wall.

"Well-"Severus started but jumped when he got hit by stinging hex. He glared at Minerva who glared right back. He pressed his lips together but stayed quiet. He had not wanted to hear about the Potter brat's life.

**Mrs. Potter was Mrs. Dursley's sister, but they hadn't met for several years; in fact, Mrs. Dursley pretended she didn't have a sister.**

"That's just sad." Percy said, shaking his head in disbelief.

Sirius and Remus agreed silently, glaring at the Dursleys.

As they glared, Susan noticed Harry shaking and walked over. "Hi." She said, sitting about a foot away as to not scare him. "I'm Susan."

"Harry." He murmured quietly, but to where she could hear him.

"Nice to meet you. Would you like to come and sit with the others?" She asked.

Harry shook his head, looking at Dudley in fear.

"Oh, then I guess I'll sit with you over here then until you feel more comfortable." Susan said, not missing the glance.

"Thank you." He said.

**because her sister and her good-for-nothing were as unDursleyish**

"That's not even a word." Hermione said, mad at how the Dursleys treated their family.

"That's them alright." Harry murmured.

Sirius looked at him in worry, as he could only just hear that.

**as it was possible to be. The Dursleys shuddered to think what the neighbors would say if the Potters arrived in the street. The Dursleys knew that the Potters had a small son, too, but they had never seen him. This boy was another good reason for keeping the Potters away; they didn't want Dudley mixing with a child like that.**

"Lily knew how to act around Muggles, Petunia." Severus snarled, glaring at her.

Petunia's eyes widened as she recognized him. "_You_." She spat.

"Hello, Tuney." Severus sneered.

Harry looked at Severus in disbelief, wondering if the scary man knew his mum.

"Lily and James didn't want Harry mixing with Dudley either." Remus growled.

**When Mr. and Mrs. Dursley woke up on the dull, grey Tuesday our story starts, there was nothing about the cloudy sky outside to suggest that strange and mysterious things would soon be happening all over the country. Mr. Dursley hummed as he picked out his most boring tie for work,**

Fred and George pretended to gag, horrified that he would pick out a boring tie.

**and Mrs. Dursley gossiped away happily as she wrestled a screaming Dudley into his high chair.**

Sirius groaned silently. He had a good guess as to what day it was.

**None of them noticed a large, tawny owl flutter past the window.**

"CONSTANT VIGILANCE!"

Sirius jumped, looking around; then he saw Hadrian grinning and he shook his head.

Harry flinched at the shout, biting his lip.

**At half-past eight, Mr. Dursley picked up his briefcase, pecked Mrs. Dursley on the check, and tried to kiss Dudley good-bye but missed, because Dudley was now having a tantrum and throwing his cereal at the walls.**

"If any of my children did that, they wouldn't be able to sit for a week." Molly said hotly.

The Weasley children shifted in their spots.

"**Little tyke," chortled Mr. Dursley as he left the house.**

Incredulous looks were sent at Vernon for how he reacted.

"That is not the way to raise a child." Molly huffed, glaring.

Minerva nodded in agreement.

**He got into his car and backed out of Number Four's drive. It was on the corner of the street that he noticed the first sign of something peculiar – a cat reading a map.**

"Minnie!" Sirius cheered, grinning widely.

"I told you never to call me that, Black. I've managed to go years without hearing it and now you brought it back." Minerva glared at him.

Sirius shrunk back in fear as Fred and George grinned at each other.

Minerva saw their looks and groaned.

**For a second, Mr. Dursley didn't realize what he had seen – then he jerked his head to look again. There was a tabby cat on the corner of Privet Drive, but there wasn't a map in sight. What could he have been thinking of? It must have been a trick of the light. Mr. Dursley blinked and stared at the cat. It stared back. As Mr. Dursley drove around the corner and up the road, he watched the cat in his mirror. It was now reading the sign that said Privet Drive – no, looking at the sign; cats couldn't read maps or signs.**

"Looks like we found Professor Minnie's weakness, Gred," Fred said, grinning.

"Yep, she can't read maps or signs, Forge." George said nodding.

Several of the adults laughed as Minerva huffed and glared at Sirius as if to say 'See what you did?'

Sirius shrank back, gulping.

**Mr. Dursley gave himself a little shake and put the cat out of his mind by something else. As he sat in the usual morning traffic jam, he couldn't help noticing that there seemed to be a lot of strangely dressed people about. People in cloaks. Mr. Dursley couldn't bear people who dressed in funny clothes – the getups you saw on young people! He supposed this was some stupid new fashion.**

"There's nothing wrong with cloaks." Narcissa huffed.

"Except that Muggles don't wear them anymore, unless you count at a Renaissance Faire." Ted said.

"Oh." She blinked.

**He drummed his fingers on the steering wheel and his eyes fell on a huddle of those weirdos standing quite close by. They were whispering excitedly together. Mr. Dursley was enraged to see that a couple of them weren't young at all; why that man had to be older then he was, and wearing an emerald-green cloak.**

"Those idiots are going to expose us if they're not careful," Remus said, shaking his head.

"They probably forgot, Remy. After all, a war did end." Sirius said.

Remus glared at Sirius for the nickname.

**But then it struck Mr. Dursley that this was some silly stunt – these people were obviously collecting for something… yes that would be it. The traffic moved on and a few minutes later, Mr. Dursley arrived in the Grunnings parking lot, his mind back on drills.**

"One track mind." Charlie said, rolling his eyes.

**Mr. Dursley sat with his back to the window in his office on the ninth floor. If he hadn't, he might have seen the owls swooping in broad daylight, though people down in the street did; they pointed and gazed open-mouthed as owl after owl sped overhead. Most of them had never seen an owl, even at night.**

"Why?" Ron asked.

"For us, owls are mostly nocturnal and usually the only time we see them in the daytime is at a zoo." Jean told him.

"That and we don't use them to carry our mail." David added.

"Weird." Ron said.

Ginny nodded in agreement.

**Mr. Dursley, however, had a perfectly, normal, owl-free morning. He yelled at five different people. He made several important telephone calls and shouted a bit more.**

**He was in a good mood until lunchtime, when he thought he'd stretch his legs and walk**

"Wait, what?" Harry asked, surprised.

"My reaction too, Harry, when I saw that. Vernon never walked much for no reason." Hadrian said, thinking of his childhood. He was actually glad to have this chance, as in this time the glamour that was on his past self would be able to be removed before he turned 17, in which it would've become permanent. At least he got to see his dad before his younger self started school.

**across the road to buy himself a bun from the bakery.**

"Gotta keep the pig fed." Fred said and people around the room laughed while Vernon started to turn purple in rage.

Hadrian saw and hurried to continue reading.

**He'd forgotten all about the people in cloaks until he passed a group of them next to the baker's. He eyed them angrily as he passed. He didn't know why, but they made him uneasy. This bunch was whispering excitedly, too, and he couldn't see a single collecting tin.**

Arthur hurried to add that to his ever growing list of Muggle items to ask about.

**It was on his way back past them, clutching a large doughnut in a bag, that he caught a few words of what they were saying.**

"**The Potters-" "That's right-" "That's what I heard yes-" "Their son, Harry-"**

Hadrian paused, throat clogged with grief. He wiped his tears away from his eyes as he stopped to allow people a moment of silence. He had never truly been their son, but they had died for him.

Minerva bowed her head as she realized what day it was, several of the adults joining her.

After a moment, Hadrian continued to read.

**Mr. Dursley stopped dead.**

"I wish." Harry said.

Remus glanced at him in worry as he had picked up the remark. Hadrian nodded in agreement as Vernon glared between the two black-haired wizards.

**Fear flooded him. He looked back at the whispers as if to say something to them, but thought better of it.**

**He dashed across the road, hurried up to his office, snapped at his secretary not to disturb him, seized his telephone, and had almost finished dialing his home number when he changed his mind. He put the receiver back down and stroked his mustache, thinking…no, he was just being stupid.**

"Finally admitting it?" Hadrian asked cheekily.

"NOW SEE HERE!" Vernon shouted, having heard enough from him. "I DON'T KNOW WHO YOU THINK YOU ARE, BUT-"He stopped as he had been silenced. He glared at Hadrian, who put his wand behind his ear.

"Thanks, Mr. Evans." Remus said.

"No problem, he was starting to give me a headache."

**Potter wasn't such an unusual name. He was sure there were lots of people called Potter who had a son named Harry.**

"There actually isn't. Harry's the last Potter able to access magic, since any others are either dead or squibs." Sirius said.

Harry's eyes widened. "Really?" He asked.

Sirius nodded. "Yep. I'm surprised that you haven't gotten anything from Gringotts, telling you about that."

"What's Gringotts?" Jean asked.

"It's our bank." Dumbledore said.

"Can we check out the bank in a while, Hadrian?" Sirius asked.

Hadrian nodded, smiling slightly. "Sure, I'd say after the fifth chapter we can have a break so you can go there. Maybe even pick up some aconite." He said mysteriously.

Severus looked sharply at him, wondering why he had mentioned an ingredient for a heritage potion.

(a/n: sorry guys, but I really don't know the ingredients for it so I guessed on one. You can correct me if I'm wrong)

"Thanks."

"No problem." Hadrian said, nodding.

**Come to think of it, he wasn't even sure his nephew was called Harry. He'd never even seen the boy. It might have been Harvey. Or Harold.**

"They didn't even know your name?" Susan asked, scandalized.

"Still don't." Harry said, biting his lip.

Susan glared over at the Dursleys.

Astoria got up from where she was sitting and moved over to where Susan and Harry were.

**There was no point in worrying Dursley; she always got upset at any mention of her sister. He didn't blame her – if he'd had a sister like that…**

"Yeah, like Marge is a picture perfect example of goodness." Hadrian snorted.

Vernon glared. "How do you know my sister?" He said.

"I just do." Hadrian said, ignoring him.

**but all the same, those people in cloaks…**

**he found it a lot harder to concentrate on drills that afternoon and when he left the building at five o'clock, he was still so worried that he walked into someone just outside the door.**

"Ouch." Bill winced.

"I wonder if that was Fillius." Minerva said to Severus who nodded in agreement.

"**Sorry," he grunted, as the tiny old man stumbled and almost fell.**

**It was a few seconds before Mr. Dursley realized that the man was wearing a violet cloak. He didn't seem at all upset at being almost knocked to the ground. On the contrary, his face split into a wide smile and he said in a squeaky voice that made passerby star, "Don't be sorry, my good sir, for nothing could upset me today! Rejoice, for You-Know-Who has gone at last!**

"Who?" Harry asked, head tilted to the side. He was getting a bit braver and stopped flinching at any small noise.

"I'll explain later, Harry." Hadrian said.

**Even Muggles like yourself should be celebrating, this happy, happy day!"**

Vernon sneered. "Freak." He muttered.

**And the old man hugged Mr. Dursley around the middle and walked off.**

**Mr. Dursley stood rooted to the spot. He had been hugged by a complete stranger. He also thought he had been called a Muggle, whatever that was. He was rattled. He hurried to his car and set off for home, hoping he was imagining things, which he had never hoped before, because he didn't approve of imagination.**

"How can you not approve of imagination?" Fred asked.

"It barbaric." George said, wiping his eyes.

**As he pulled into the driveway of Number Four, the first thing he saw – and it didn't improve his mood – was the tabby cat he'd spotted this morning. It was now sitting on his garden wall. He was sure it was the same one; it had the same markings around its eyes.**

"Professor Minnie." The twins said, grinning.

Minerva groaned, shooting a glare at Sirius.

He just grinned cheekily at her.

**Was the normal cat behavior, Mr. Dursley wondered? Trying to pull himself together, he let himself into the house. He was still determined to mention nothing to his wife.**

"Well, we know who wears the pants in that relationship." Sirius said.

Remus nodded.

**Mrs. Dursley had a nice, normal day. She told him over dinner all about Mrs. Next Door's problems with her daughter and how Dudley had learned a new word! ("Won't!")**

"Not something to be proud of." Molly spat, glaring.

Petunia just turned her nose up at her, ignoring her.

**Mr. Dursley tried to act normally. When Dudley had been put to bed, he went into the living room to catch the latest report on the evening news:**

"_And finally, bird-watchers everywhere have reported that the nation's owls have been behaving very unusually today. Although owls normally hunt at night and are hardly ever seen in the daylight, there have been hundreds of sightings of these birds flying in every direction since sunrise. Experts are unable to explain why the owls have suddenly changed their sleeping patterns."_** The news reader allowed himself a grin.** _"Most mysterious, over to Jim McGuffin with the weather. Going to be anymore showers of owls tonight, Jim?"_

"_Well Ted,"_

Ted Tonks smiled to himself. He had enjoyed helping out that day.

**said the weatherman,**_ "I don't know about that, but it's not only the owls that have acting oddly today. Viewers as far apart as Kent, Yorkshire, and Dundee have been phoning in to tell me that instead of the rain I promised yesterday, they've had a downpour of shooting stars! Perhaps people have been celebrating Bonfire Night early – it's not until next week folks! But I can promise a wet night tonight._"

"Deadalus," Minerva said, shaking her head.

**Mr. Dursley sat frozen in his armchair. Shooting stars all over Britain? Owls flying in daylight? Mysterious people in cloaks all over the place? And a whisper about the Potters…**

**Mrs. Dursley came into the living room carrying two cups of tea. It was no good. He'd have to say something to her. He cleared his throat nervously.**

"**Er-Petunia, dear-you haven't heard from your sister lately, have you?"**

**As he expected, Mrs. Dursley looked shocked and angry. After all, they normally pretended she didn't a sister.**

'Lily was the same way.' Severus thought, shaking his head sadly.

"**No," she said, sharply. "Why?"**

"**Funny stuff on the news," Mr. Dursley mumbled. "Owls…shooting stars…and there were funny-looking people in town today.**

"**So?" snapped Mrs. Dursley.**

"**Well, I just thought…maybe…it was something to do with…you know…her crowd."**

"What does that mean?" Mrs. Greengrass asked sharply.

"Witches and wizards." Hadrian said.

People looked at him confused as to why he would know that.

**Mrs. Dursley sipped her tea through pursed lips. Mr. Dursley wondered if he dared to tell her that he'd heard the name "Potter." He decided he didn't dare.**

Ginny made a sound like a whip being cracked, which cracked the kids up.

**Instead he said, as casually as he could, "Their son – he'd be about Dudley's age now, wouldn't he?"**

"**I suppose so," said Mrs. Dursley stiffly.**

"**What's his name again? Howard isn't it?"**

"**Harry. Nasty, common name, if you ask me."**

"Better then Dudley any day." Sirius said seriously.

Harry bit his lip then moved a bit closer to the two girls who smiled gently at him.

**He didn't say another word on the subject as they went upstairs to bed. While Mrs. Dursley was in the bathroom, Mr. Dursley crept to the window and peered down into the garden. The cat was still there. It was staring down Privet Drive as though it were waiting for something.**

**Was he imagining things? Could all of this have anything to do with the Potters? If it did… if it got out that they were related to a pair of – well, he didn't think he could bare it.**

**The Dursleys got into bed. Mrs. Dursley fell asleep quickly but Mr. Dursley lay awake, turning it all over in his mind. His last, comforting thought before he fell asleep was that even if the Potters were involved, there was no reason for them to come near him and Mrs. Dursley. The Potters knew very well what he and Petunia thought about their kind…He couldn't see how he and Petunia could get mixed up in anything that might be going on – he yawned and turned over – it couldn't affect them…**

**How very wrong he was.**

"I wish." Harry murmured.

Sirius, Susan, and Astoria looked at him in worry.

**Mr. Dursley might have been drifting into an uneasy sleep, but the cat on the wall outside was showing no sign of sleepiness.**

**It was sitting still as a statue, its eyes fixed unblinkingly on the far corner of Privet Drive. It didn't so much as quiver as a car door slammed on the next street, nor when two owls swooped overhead. In fact, it was nearly midnight before the cat moved at all.**

Bill whistled. The cat had to have been there for a long time.

Sirius wiggle his eyebrows at Minerva who glared at him.

**A man appeared on the corner the cat had been watching, appeared so suddenly and silently you'd have thought he'd just popped out of the ground.**

"Apparition, Headmaster?" Bill asked.

Dumbledore nodded.

**Nothing like this man had ever been seen on Privet Drive. He was tall, thin, and very old, judging by the silver of his hair and beard, which were both long enough to tuck into his belt.**

**He was wearing long robes, a purple cloak that swept the ground, and high-heeled, buckled boots. His blue eyes were light, bright, and sparkling behind half-moon spectacles and his nose was very long and crooked, as though it had been broken at least twice.**

**The man's name was Albus Dumbledore.**

**Albus Dumbledore didn't seem to realize that he had just arrived in a street where everything from his name to his clothing was unwelcome.**

"I knew, I just didn't care." He chuckled.

"Why were you there, Headmaster?" Charlie asked.

"You'll see," Dumbledore said, motioning for Hadrian to continue.

**He was busy rummaging in his cloak, looking for something. But he did seem to realize he was being watched, because he looked up suddenly at the cat, which was still staring at him from the other end of the street. For some reason, the sight of the cat seemed to amuse him.**

**He chuckled and muttered, "I should have known."**

**He found what he was looking for in his inside pocket. It seemed to be a silver cigarette lighter. He flicked it open, held it up in the air, and clicked it. The nearest street lamp went out with a little pop.**

"Awesome." The twins cried, intrigued. "Where can we get one?"

"I made it myself and it is the only one of its kind unfortunately." Dumbledore chuckled at them.

"Cool!"

**He clicked it again – the next street lamp flickered into darkness. Twelve times he clicked the **_**Deluminator**_**,**

Dumbledore looked at him in surprise. "How did you know its name?" He asked.

"I've seen it in use in the future." Hadrian answered, fighting not to glare at the man. He knew that he would get his due soon.

**until the only lights left on the whole street were the only two tiny pinpricks in the distance, which were the eyes of the cat watching him. If anyone looked out their window now, even the beady-eyed Mrs. Dursley wouldn't be able to see anything that was happening down on the pavement. Dumbledore put the **_**Deluminator**_** back inside his cloak and set off down the street toward number four, where he sat down on the wall next to the cat. He didn't look at it, but after a moment he spoke to it.**

"**Fancy meeting you here, Professor McGonagall."**

"Knew it." Sirius grinned.

Minerva rolled her eyes.

**He turned to smile at the tabby, but it was gone. Instead he was smiling at a rather severe-looking woman who was wearing square glasses exactly the same shape of the markings the cat had around its eyes. She, too, was wearing a cloak, an emerald one. Her black hair was drawn into a tight bun. She looked distinctly ruffled.**

"**How did you know it was me?" she asked.**

"It's magic, Professor," Fred said cheekily.

"**My dear Professor, I've never seen a cat sit so stiffly."**

"**You'd be stiff if you'd been sitting on a brick wall all day." Said Professor McGonagall.**

Her students' eyes widened. They didn't' think that they could do that.

"**All day? When you could have been celebrating? I must have passed a dozen feasts and parties on my way here."**

"Sure, celebrate when two people lost their lives and a 15-month-old child became an orphan." Hadrian snarled.

Several of the adults shifted in their seats uncomfortably at that. They had forgotten about that.

**Professor McGonagall sniffed angrily.**

"**Oh yes, everyone's been celebrating, all right," she said, impatiently. "You'd think they'd be a bit more careful, but no – even the Muggles have noticed something's going on. It was on their news." She jerked her head back at the Dursley's dark living-room window. "I heard it. Flocks of owls…shooting stars…Well, they're not completely stupid.**

"Was it that bad before this, whatever it was, happened?" Jean asked.

Dumbledore nodded sadly, motioning for Hadrian to continue.

**They were bound to notice something. Shooting stars down in Kent – I'll bet that was Deadalus Diggle. He never had much sense."**

"He's good a party or a prank, though." Sirius said.

"**You can't blame them," said Dumbledore gently. "We've had precious little to celebrate for eleven years."**

David whistled. That must have been a lot of fighting.

"**I know that," said Professor McGonagall irritably. "But that's no reason to lose our heads. People are being downright careless, out in the streets in broad daylight, not even dressed in Muggle clothes, swapping rumors.**

Amelia nodded her head in agreement.

**She threw a sharp glance at Dumbledore here, as though hoping he was going to tell her something, but he didn't, so she went on. "A fine thing it would be if, on the very day You-Know-Who seems to have disappeared at last, the Muggles found out about us all. I suppose he really has gone Dumbledore?"**

"**It certainly seems so," said Dumbledore. "We have much to be thankful for. Would you care for a lemon drop?"**

"A what?" Sirius asked.

Hadrian smirked as he read the next line.

"**A what?"**

Sirius blushed at that.

"Their actually pretty good." Hadrian said.

"**A lemon drop. They're a kind of Muggle sweet I'm rather fond of."**

"**No thank you," said Professor McGonagall coldly, as though she didn't think this was the moment for lemon drops.**

"But professor, it's always time for lemon drops." Hadrian grinned.

Hermione nodded in agreement.

"**As I say, even if You-Know-Who **_**has**_** gone – "**

"**My dear Professor, surely a sensible person like yourself can call him by his name? All this 'You-Know-Who' nonsense-for eleven years I have been trying to persuade people to call him by his proper name: Voldemort."**

Most of the occupants in the room shuddered.

"Why are you afraid of a name?" David asked.

"During the war, some of his followers had put a taboo on his name, making it to where whenever someone said his name; Death Eaters would automatically find him. It even got rid of any wards or spell work set up to hide the person." Arthur explained.

"Seems odd to still do it, since he's not around now." Jean said.

"Sometimes it's hard to break habits." Molly said.

They nodded.

"You could always call him by his birth name, or even make fun of the name he has now. That way you could talk about him without worry." Hadrian said.

"And you know this how?" Severus asked, an eyebrow raised.

"Let's just say I knew a pair of mischievous twins who liked to poke around with his name."

**Professor McGonagall flinched, but Dumbledore, who was unsticking two lemon drops, seemed not to notice. "It all gets so confusing if we keep saying 'You-Know-Who.' I have never seen any reason to be frightened of saying Voldemort's name."**

"**I know you haven't," said Professor McGonagall, sounding half exasperated, had admiring. "But you're different. Everyone knows you're the only one You-know- oh, all right, Voldemort, was frightened of."**

"Wow, good job. You managed to get her to say his name." Sirius said.

"**You flatter me," said Dumbledore calmly. "Voldemort had powers I will never have."**

"**Only because you're too – well – noble to use them."**

"**It's lucky it's dark. I haven't blushed so much since Madame Pomfrey told me she liked my new earmuffs."**

"TMI, Professor." Charlie said, covering his ears.

"TMI?" Dumbledore asked.

"Too much information." Hadrian and Hermione explained at the same time.

Dumbledore nodded.

**Professor McGonagall shot a sharp look at Dumbledore and said "The owls are nothing next to the rumors that are flying around. You know what they are saying? About why he's disappeared? About what stopped him?"**

Sirius, Remus, and Hadrian bowed their heads.

**It seemed that Professor McGonagall had not reached the point she was most anxious to discuss, the real reason she had been waiting on a cold, hard wall all day, for neither as a cat nor as a woman had she fixed Dumbledore with such a piercing stare as she did now. It was plain that whatever "everyone" was saying she was not going to believe it until Dumbledore told her it was true.**

**Dumbledore, however, was choosing another lemon drop and did not answer.**

"**What they're saying," she pressed on, "is that last night, Voldemort turned up in Godric's Hollow. He went to find the Potters. The rumor is that Lily and James Potter are – are – that they're – dead."**

Harry froze, pale. He pulled his knees to his chest and put his head on them, crying silently.

Sirius bowed his head, tears forming in his eyes and most of the room, besides the Dursleys', bowed their head in a moment of silence.

Hadrian took a deep breath and continued.

**Dumbledore bowed his head. Professor McGonagall gasped.**

"**Lily and James… I can't believe it… I didn't want to believe it… Oh, Albus…"**

Harry chocked back a sob.

'This isn't how he should have found out. We should have been able to take him aside and told him what happened as soon as he was old enough to know. If only I hadn't gone after Pettigrew.' Sirius thought sadly.

Susan and Astoria looked at each other, nodded, and sat on either side of Harry, hugging him.

Harry flinched slightly, before saying a quiet thank you to them.

Ginny narrowed her eyes, calculatingly.

Hadrian glared at her slightly before beginning to read again.

**Dumbledore reached out and patter her on the shoulder. "I know… I know…" he said heavily.**

**Professor McGonagall's voice trembled as she went on. "That's not all. They're saying he tried to kill the Potter's son, Harry. But he couldn't. he couldn't kill that little boy. No one knows why, or how, but they're saying that when he couldn't kill Harry Potter, Voldemort's power somehow broke – and that's why he's gone."**

**Dumbledore nodded glumly.**

"**It's-it's true?" faltered Professor McGonagall. "After all he's done... all the people he's killed… he couldn't kill a little boy? It's just astounding… of all things to stop him… but how in the name of heaven did Harry survive?"**

"**We can only guess." Said Dumbledore. "We may never know."**

"It was Lily." Hadrian said.

Everyone looked at him.

"She managed to perform an obscure branch of old magic, not seen since the days of King Arthur, that protected him. It has to do with blood, but as it is a protection spell, it is a legal spell." He said, glaring at Fudge when he started to sputter about the illegal use of blood spells. "It is actually one of the only two blood magic that is legalized here in the U.K."

"You seem to know a lot about this, Mr. Evans." Amelia said.

"I know a lot more than you think. The goblins are great help for something you need, for the right price of course."

Amelia nodded at that.

**Professor McGonagall pulled out a lace handkerchief and dabbed at her eyes beneath her spectacles. Dumbledore gave a great sniff as he took a golden watch from his pocket and examined it. It was a very odd watch. It had twelve hands but no numbers; instead, little planets were moving around the edges.**

**It must have made sense to Dumbledore, though, because he put it back in his pocket and said, "Hagrid's late. I suppose it was he who told you I'd be here, by the way?"**

"More like I overheard you telling him to bring him there and decided to go and watch to see what they were like." Minerva sniffed.

"**Yes," said Professor McGonagall. "And I don't suppose you're going to tell me **_**why**_** you're here, of all places?"**

"**I've come to bring Harry to his aunt and uncle. They're the only family he has left now."**

"That's a lie." Hadrian said, glaring.

"I don't know what you mean, my dear boy." Dumbledore said. "Harry is Lily and James' biological son."

Hadrian snorted. "It may seem like that, but I know the truth. And besides, Dorea Potter was a Black before she married Charlus Potter. Harry has several cousins he could have gone to instead of that hell hole."

"He's got you there, Albus. I remember Dorea, as she was in my year when I was at school." Minerva said, nodding. "A decent Black. I believe she is one of the few that ever made it into Ravenclaw."

"Harry is safest at his aunts." Dumbledore said.

"Safe?" Hadrian snorted. "I'm not sure anyone in here will agree with that, once they find out when we continue the books."

He glared at the man once more, and continued to read.

"**You don't mean-you can't **_**mean**_** the people who live here?" cried Professor McGonagall, jumping to her feet and pointing at number four. "Dumbledore-you can't. I've been watching them all day. You couldn't find two people who are less like us. And they've got this son – I saw him kicking his mother all the way up the street, screaming for sweets. Harry Potter come and live here."**

"She's right, Dumbledore. You should've allowed him to be raised by a Wizarding family." Fudge said, nodding his head in agreement.

"Did anyone ever thing to check Lily and James' wills?" Remus asked.

Dumbledore froze. "I did, they had said that if Sirius couldn't raise him, then he was to go to her sister's place." He said, not looking anyone in the eye.

Hadrian snorted.

Severus looked between them and narrowed his eyes. Something didn't seem right about what Dumbledore said and Hadrian seemed to know what it was. He'd have to check it out next time he went to Gringotts.

"**it's the best place for him," said Dumbledore firmly. "His aunt and uncle will be able to explain everything to him when he's older. I've written them a letter."**

"That is the worst way to tell someone that a family member died." Narcissa said, glaring. "It's insensitive to them and not to mention rude."

"**A letter?" repeated Professor McGonagall faintly, sitting back down on the wall. "Really, Dumbledore, you think you can explain everything in a letter.**

"The brat never deserved the truth." Vernon spat. "I won't allow you to tell him."

"Shut up, Dursley." Hadrian spat, eyes glowing the color of the killing curse. "You have no right to say what we can and can't tell Harry. He has every right to know the truth, not some cock-and-bull story you've told him about a car."

"A what?" Sirius growled.

"You'll find out later." Hadrian said, rubbing his forehead to staveoff a headache.

**These people will never understand him! He'll be famous – a legend – I wouldn't be surprised if today was known as Harry potter day in the future there will be books written about Harry –**

"Those authors have told a complete and utter lie about what happened that day." Hadrian said. "Not only did they mix up some facts, but I don't believe they've ever gotten permission from Harry's guardian to do an interview."

Amelia started to write down several things.

"What are you doing Auntie?" Susan asked.

"I'm making a note to ask the authors if they have written proof about being allowed to write the books and if not, to take them in for questioning about why they were allowed." She said.

**every child in our world will know his name!"**

"**Exactly," said Dumbledore, looking very seriously over the top of his half-moon glasses. "it would be enough to turn any boy's head. Famous before he can walk and talk! Famous for something we won't remember! Can you see how much better off he'll be, growing up away from all that until he's ready to take it?"**

**Professor McGonagall opened her mouth, changed her mind, swallowed, and then said, "Yes – yes, you're right of course.**

"Professor, did he happen to look you in the eyes when he said that?" Hadrian asked.

"Now that you mention it, he did."

Severus glanced sharply at Dumbledore. It sounded as if he was using mind magic to get her to agree with him.

**But how is the boy getting here, Dumbledore?" She eyed his cloak suddenly as though she thought he might be hiding Harry underneath it.**

"**Hagrid's bringing him."**

"**You think it-**_**wise**_**-to trust Hagrid with something as important as this?"**

"I trust Hagrid with my life." Hadrian said. "Not my secrets though. Get him drunk of flatter him, and he'll tell you anything."

Fred and George made a note of this.

"**I would trust Hagrid with my life," said Dumbledore.**

Hadrian groaned when he realized he'd agreed with Dumbledore.

"**I'm not saying his heart isn't in the right place," said Professor McGonagall grudgingly, "but you can't pretend he's not careless. He does tend to – what was that?"**

**A low rumbling sound had broken the silence around them. It grew steadily louder as they looked up and down the street for some sign of a headlight; it swelled to a roar as they both looked up at the sky – and a huge motorcycle fell out of the air and landed on the road in front of them.**

"My bike!" Sirius cried. "I wonder if he still has it."

Remus started. If he had given Hagrid his bike to take Harry there, then maybe he was innocent. He knew that Sirius would never give his bike to anyone without good reason. He narrowed his eyes at Dumbledore. He wondered if Sirius had ever even been given a trial or was even questioned under a truth potion.

"Consorting with a known criminal…" Fudge began.

Hadrian snorted. "Sure, if the known criminal was ever even given a fair trial. Did you ever check the records for the facts or even check to see if there was a trial?"

"Why? He sold the Potter's out to his master and then tried to kill a hero." Fudge said.

"Then if a blasting curse had been used by him, why was only a finger found of Pettigrew? Wouldn't there have been no pieces left?"

Fudge sputtered at that.

**If the motorcycle was huge, it was nothing to the man sitting astride it.**

**He was almost twice as tall as a normal man and at least five times as wide he looked simply too big to be allowed, and so wild – long tangles of bushy, black hair and beard hid most of his face, he had hands the size of trash can lids, and his feet in their leather boots were like baby dolphins. In his vast, muscular arms he was holding a bundle of blankets.**

Harry looked up at that. It looked like his dream was real.

"All threatening, but the blankets ruin the image." Remus snorted.

Hadrian nodded in agreement.

"**Hagrid," said Dumbledore, sounding relieved. "At last. And where did you get that motorcycle?"**

"**Borrowed it, Professor Dumbledore, sir," said the giant, climbing carefully off the motorcycle as he spoke. "Young Sirius Black lent it to me. I've got him sir."**

"**No problems, were there?"  
"No, sir – house was almost destroyed, but I got him out all right before the Muggles started swarmin' around. He fell asleep as we were flyin' over Bristol."**

"Awe." The girls in the room cooed.

Harry blushed, hiding his face in his knees.

**Dumbledore and Professor McGonagall bent forward over the bundle of blankets. Inside, just visible, was a baby boy, fast asleep.**

**Under a tuft of jet-black hair over his forehead they could see a curiously shaped cut, like a bolt of lightning.**

"**Is that where -?" whispered Professor McGonagall.**

"**Yes," said Dumbledore. "he'll have that scar forever."**

"**Couldn't you do something about it, Dumbledore?"**

"**Even if I could, I wouldn't. Scars can come in handy. I have one myself above my left knee that is a perfect map of the London Underground."**

"Really, sir?" Fred asked.

Dumbledore nodded.

"Cool," the twins said.

"I would," Hadrian mutter, checking that his bangs were still covering his forehead.

Severus looked at him oddly at that movement.

**Dumbledore took Harry in his arms and turned toward the Dursley's house.**

"**Could I – could I say good-bye to him, sir?" asked Hagrid. He bent his great, shaggy head over Harry and gave him what must have been a very scratchy, whiskery kiss. Then, suddenly, Hagrid let out a howl like a wounded dog.**

"Oi! I take offense to that." Sirius said.

Remus chuckled, shaking his head in amusement.

"**Shh!" hissed Professor McGonagall, "You'll wake the Muggles!"**

"**S-s-sorry," sobbed Hagrid, taking out a large, spotted handkerchief and burying his face in it. "But I c-c-can't stand it – Lily an' James dead – an' poor little Harry off ter live with Muggles –"**

"**Yes, yes, it's all very sad, but get a grip on yourself, Hagrid or we'll be found," Professor McGonagall whispered, patting Hagrid gingerly on the arm as Dumbledore stepped over the low garden and walked to the front door. He laid Harry gently on the doorstep, took a letter out of his cloak, tucked it inside Harry's blankets, and then came back to the other two.**

"YOU WHAT!" Jean screeched. "Do you know how dangerous that could have been, what with the rain expected and it was fall! He could have gotten sick!"

Narcissa, Amelia, and Mrs. Greengrass glared at Dumbledore, to mad to speak at all.

"Don't worry, I put a charm on the blankets to keep him warm and safe." Minerva said.

The women continued to glare, still mad at Dumbledore.

**For a full minute, the tree of them stood and looked at the little bundle; Hagrid's shoulders shook, Professor McGonagall blinked furiously, and the twinkling light that usually shone from Dumbledore's eyes seemed to have gone out.**

"**Well," said Dumbledore finally, 'that's that. We've no business staying here. We may as well go and join the celebrations."**

He flinched at the glares he received.

"**Yeah," said Hagrid in a very muffled voice, "I best get this bike away. G'night, Professor McGonagall – Professor Dumbledore, sir."**

**Wiping his streaming eyes on his jacket sleeve, Hagrid swung himself onto the motorcycle and kicked the engine into life; with a roar it rose into the air and took off into the night.**

"I never did get that bike back. I wonder if he still has it." Sirius mused.

"**I shall see you soon, I expect, Professor McGonagall," said Dumbledore nodding to her. Professor McGonagall blew her nose in reply.**

**Dumbledore turned and walked back down the street. On the corner he stopped and took out the silver **_**Deluminator**_**. He clicked it once, and twelve balls of light sped back to their street lamps so that Privet Drive glowed suddenly orange and he could make out a tabby cat slinking around the corner at the other end of the street. He could just see the blankets on the step of number four.**

"**Good luck, Harry," he murmured. **_**Looking around quickly, he cast a few spells that surround the baby before they disappeared as suddenly as they appeared. **_**He **_**nodded to himself, **_**turned on his heel and with a swish of his cloak, he was gone.**

**A breeze ruffled the neat hedges of Privet Drive, which lay silent and tidy under the inky sky, the very last place you would expect astonishing things to happen. Harry Potter rolled over inside his blankets without waking up. One small hand closed on the letter beside him and he slept on, not knowing he would be woken in a few hours' time by Mrs. Dursley's scream**

"Like we ever wanted him." Petunia sniffed, haughty.

**as she opened the front door to put out the milk bottles, nor that he would spend the next few weeks being prodded and pinched by his cousin Dudley…**

"Brat." Narcissa sneered.

**He couldn't know that at this very moment, people meeting in secret all over the country were holding up their glasses and saying in hushed voices: "To Harry Potter – the boy who lived!"**

"That's that chapter." Hadrian bookmarked the page and shut the book.

"What spells did you use on Harry, Dumbledore?" Minerva asked.

Dumbledore quailed under the looks he received. "Just some to ensure that he would be safe." He said.

Sirius narrowed his eyes but didn't call him out on his bluff. They'd find out soon if what he said was true.

"Who wants to read next?" Hadrian said, holding up the book.

"I will." Sirius said. "I want to hear more about my godson's home life." He reached for the book.

Hadrian passed him the book, ignoring Dumbledore.

Sirius opened to marked page and began to read, "**Chapter 2 – the Vanishing Glass.**"

**A/n: **And the game is afoot. Who will catch onto what Dumbledore did first? Find out in the next exciting chapter.

Oh, and if you want me to put what kind of creature Hadrian and Harry are, ask in a review. If there aren't any, I'll reveal when they get back from Gringott's.


	3. Chapter 2 - The Vanishing Glass

**Author's Note: Hello everybody. I'm back and sorry for the wait. I have had a few people ask about what sort of creature Harry and Hadrian are, so it will be revealed in this chapter at the end of the chapter. Just to let you know, I own the creature that they are, but the name is not mine. If you want to read the story that has the name that I am using, you can find it in the Yugioh story section. Of course, if you can find a better name, let me know. I hope you enjoy what I've come up with creature wise, and hope you enjoy the chapter.**

**Oh, and sorry for the long update. It's been a killer time what with starting a new class and finding Wi-Fi somewhere. Sorry again, people.**

**Key:**

**Book**

_**Added parts to the book**_

_Spells, letters, newspaper ads_

~parseltongue~

_Warnings: Dumbledore bashing, Molly bashing, Ron and Ginny/bashing redeeming. Mentions of mpreg._

**Chapter 2 – The Vanishing Glass**

Sirius opened to the marked page and began to read. "Chapter 2 – The Vanishing Glass."

"Ooh, sounds like there will be some accidental magic shown." Charlie said, leaning forward.

Bill nodded, leaning forward as well.

**Nearly ten years had passed since the Dursleys had woken up to find their nephew on their front step, but Privet Drive had hardly changed at all.**

"Boring!" Fred and George said together.

Harry cracked a small smile while Hadrian smirked.

**The sun rose on the same tidy front gardens and lit up the brass number four on the Dursleys' front door; it crept into their living room, which was almost exactly the same as it had been on the night when Mr. Dursley had seen that fateful news report about the owls. Only the photographs on the mantelpiece really showed how much time had passed. Ten years ago, there had been lots of pictures of what looked like a large pink beach ball wearing different-colored bonnets – **

The children snickered at that.

**but Dudley Dursley was no longer a baby, and now the photographs showed a large blond boy riding his first bicycle, on a carousel at the fair, playing a computer game with his father, being hugged by his mother. The room held no sign at all that another boy lived in the house too.**

Severus, who had had a sneer on his face at the beginning of the chapter, looked shocked.

"And why weren't there any pictures of you, Harry?" Remus asked, worried.

"I don't like my picture taken." Harry said in a soft voice, but it still carried around the room.

Hadrian motioned for Sirius to continue to read.

**Yet Harry Potter was still there, asleep at the moment, but not for long. His aunt Petunia was awake and it was her shrill voice that made the first noise of the day.**

"**Up! Get up! Now!"**

"I do not have a shrill voice!" Petunia said, shrilly.

"Yes you do, now shut it. You're giving Remus and me a headache." Hadrian said, waving his hand at the woman. She opened her mouth to speak again, but no noise came out.

"Wow." Bill said, looking at Hadrian. "How'd you do that?"

"You learn a few things when you try to survive." He said.

**Harry woke with a start. His aunt rapped on the door again.**

"**Up!" she screeched. Harry heard her walking towards the kitchen and then the sound of the frying pan being put on the stove.**

"How were you able to hear that, Mr. Potter?" Minerva asked.

Harry shook his head before hiding it between his knees.

**Harry rolled onto his back, **_**trying not to reopen the cuts**_**, and tried to remember the dream he had been having. It had been a good one. There had been a flying motorcycle in it. He had a feeling he'd had the same dream before.**

"That was no dream, pup. That used to be one of the only ways your parents could get you to sleep when you were a baby." Sirius said, smiling softly.

Harry looked up, startled. "Really?" He asked.

Remus nodded, trying to control his inner wolf at what had been implied with the cuts. He just hoped he was wrong and motioned for Sirius to continue.

**His aunt was back outside the door.**

"**Are you up yet?" she demanded.**

"**Nearly," said Harry.**

"**Well, get a move on, I want you to look after the bacon.**

"They made you cook?" Jean asked, eyes flashing.

Harry nodded, backing away.

"How old were you?" Narcissa asked gently, throwing a glare at the Dursley's.

"Five." Hadrian said absently, and then noticed the looks he received. "At least, that's what he told me. From what he said, it was when he could finally see over the stove."

Remus growled.

"That's dangerous! He could have burned himself." Molly shouted at the Dursleys.

Petunia sneered, but kept her mouth shut as the silencing charm was still in place.

Sirius, meanwhile, was reading on silently then stopped, eyes popping out his head. "You didn't," he snarled.

Everyone, except for the Dursley's, looked at him but he shook his head and continued to read.

**Harry groaned. "What did you say?" his aunt snapped through the door. "Nothing, nothing…"**

**Dudley's birthday – how could he have forgotten? **_**Oh yeah, because of what happened every time something went wrong**_**. Harry got slowly out of bed and started looking for socks. He found a pair under his bed and, after pulling a spider off one of them, put them on. Harry was used to spiders,**

Ron shuddered and the twins snickered before quailing at their mother's glare.

Harry backed himself into a corner, hiding his face. He was sincerely hoping that his bedroom wasn't mentioned.

Hadrian watched him with sad eyes, sighing.

**because the cupboard under the stairs was full of them and that was where he slept.**

"WHAT!" Minerva screeched. She glared at them before turning to Dumbledore. "Did you know?" She hissed, eyes flashing.

Dumbledore shook his head, trying to hide his shock. This was a bit further then what he had meant for the Dursley's to do. It was more than what he said to do in the letter. He'd only wanted them to make sure he was downtrodden and submissive.

Hadrian snorted, seeing him shake his head.

Everyone glanced at him so he explained. "Don't worry, he gets a better room." He said. He still felt odd, speaking about himself in third person.

Severus and Narcissa were glaring full force at the elder Dursleys. "You monsters." Narcissa snarled.

"It's better than the brat deserves. We never wanted him." Vernon spat.

Remus was going to go calm Harry, but it seemed as if Susan was already doing it.

It was a full 20 minutes before anyone could calm down and continue the reading.

**When he dressed, he went down the hall to the kitchen,. The table was almost hidden beneath all Dudley's presents. It looked as though Dudley had gotten the new computer he wanted, not to mention the second television and the racing bike. Exactly why Dudley wanted a racing bike was a mystery to Harry, as Dudley was very fat and hated exercise – unless of course it involved punching someone.**

"Was it you?" Fred asked Harry.

Harry nodded, flinching back.

Sirius growled slightly as Hadrian pursed his lips.

**His favorite punching bag was Harry, but he couldn't catch him often. Harry didn't look it, but he was very fast.**

**Perhaps it had something to do with living in a dark cupboard, **

Remus growled at the reminder, eyes glowing amber.

**but Harry had always been small and skinny for his age.**

"If I remember right, Remus, James was the same way until his fifth year." Sirius said, tapping a finger on his chin in thought.

Remus nodded in agreement. "Right you are, Sirius. It was quite a lot of fun to tease him about it."

Harry listened to them with rapt attention. He was enjoying getting to hear about his parents as he never had before.

Hadrian watched this interaction sadly. He was glad that this was happening, if only so that all the trouble that happened could change.

"We'd better let Poppy look at him once the books are done." Minerva said quietly to Severus.

He nodded absently, mentally going over any potions that he thought might be able to help with the problems that were appearing so far.

**He looked even smaller and skinnier than he really was because all he had to wear were old clothes of Dudley's, and Dudley was about four times bigger than he was. **

**Harry had a thin face, knobbly knees, black hair, and bright green eyes.**

"Your father's looks with your mother's eyes." Sirius said, sighing at the reminder of his lost friends.

Harry smiled slightly at that.

**He wore round glasses held together with a lot of Scotch tape because of**

**all the times Dudley had punched him on the nose.**

"A bully in the making." David said, shaking his head in disbelief.

"How we raise our son is none of your concern." Vernon spat.

**The only thing Harry liked about his own appearance was a very thin scar on his forehead that**

**was shaped like a bolt of lightning. He had had it as long as he could**

**remember, and the first question he could ever remember asking his Aunt Petunia was how he had gotten it.**

**"In the car crash when your parents died," she had said. "And don't ask**

**questions."**

"That's an insult to your sister's memory, Tuney," Severus sneered, glaring at the Dursleys. "Lily was a much better person than you'll ever be."

"But, but, how can you learn then?" Hermione asked eyes wide.

Jean smiled at her daughter's curiosity.

**Don't ask questions - that was the first rule for a quiet life with the**

**Dursleys. Uncle Vernon entered the kitchen as Harry was turning over the bacon. "Comb your hair!" he barked, by way of a morning greeting. **_**At least it was better than one of the other greetings he would sometimes get, like his head being pushed under a tap that was allowing water through for three minutes or being pushed onto the stove.**_

Remus growled at Dumbledore. "He is not going back there." He said.

"He has to, the blood wards-" Dumbledore started.

Hadrian snorted. "Those only work if there is love between those involved and they share actual blood." He said.

Sirius nodded in agreement. "That's right."

Dumbledore peered at Hadrian through his half-moon glasses.

**About once a week, Uncle Vernon looked over the top of his newspaper and shouted that Harry needed a haircut. Harry must have had more haircuts than the rest of the boys in his class put together, but it made no difference, his hair simply grew that way - all over the place.**

"All Potter hair does that. It can't be controlled." Sirius said.

**Harry was frying eggs by the time Dudley arrived in the kitchen with his mother.**

Draco shook his head. "Can't even find the kitchen by himself."

"Obviously not if he needs help." Daphne said, nodding in agreement.

**Dudley looked a lot like Uncle Vernon. He had a large pink face, not much neck, small, watery blue eyes, and thick blond hair that lay smoothly on his thick, fat head. Aunt Petunia often said that Dudley looked like a baby angel –**

The kids started laughing at that.

"More like a pig in a wig." Fred said.

**Harry often said that Dudley looked like a pig in a wig.**

Fred blushed.

**Harry put the plates of egg and bacon on the table, which was difficult**

**as there wasn't much room. Dudley, meanwhile, was counting his presents.**

**His face fell.**

**"Thirty-six," he said, looking up at his mother and father. "That's two**

**less than last year."**

"Spoiled." Narcissa said, shaking her head.

**"Darling, you haven't counted Auntie Marge's present, see, it's here**

**under this big one from Mommy and Daddy."**

**"All right, thirty-seven then," said Dudley, going red in the face.**

**Harry, who could see a huge Dudley tantrum coming on, began wolfing down**

**his bacon as fast as possible in case Dudley turned the table over**_**, or pushed it onto him**_**.**

"Does he do that often?" Hermione asked.

Harry nodded. Hadrian did as well, being careful not to be noticed.

**Aunt Petunia obviously scented danger, too, because she said quickly,**

**"And we'll buy you another two presents while we're out today. How's**

**that, popkin? Two more presents. Is that all right?''**

**Dudley thought for a moment. It looked like hard work. Finally he said**

**slowly, "So I'll have thirty ... thirty..."**

**"Thirty-nine, sweetums," said Aunt Petunia.**

"Merlin and Morgana, not even I get that many in a year." Draco said.

"And you never will." Narcissa reprimanded.

**"Oh." Dudley sat down heavily and grabbed the nearest parcel. "All right**

**then."**

**Uncle Vernon chuckled. "Little tyke wants his money's worth, just like**

**his father. 'Atta boy, Dudley!" He ruffled Dudley's hair.**

**At that moment the telephone rang and Aunt Petunia went to answer it while Harry and Uncle Vernon watched Dudley unwrap the racing bike, a video camera, a remote control airplane, sixteen new computer games, and a VCR. He was ripping the paper off a gold wristwatch when Aunt Petunia came back from the telephone looking both angry and worried.**

**"Bad news, Vernon," she said. "Mrs. Figg's broken her leg. She can't take him." She jerked her head in Harry's direction.**

**Dudley's mouth fell open in horror, but Harry's heart gave a leap. Every**

**year on Dudley's birthday, his parents took him and a friend out for the**

**day, to adventure parks, hamburger restaurants, or the movies. Every**

**year, Harry was **_**either**_** left behind with Mrs. Figg, a mad old lady who lived two streets away**_** or locked in his cupboard with just a glass of water and a small loaf of stale bread**_**. Harry hated it there. The whole house smelled of cabbage**

**and Mrs. Figg made him look at photographs of all the cats she'd ever owned.**

"I'm with you on that one." Sirius said, shivering.

"Not all cats are bad." Hadrian said.

"What was that, Black?" Minerva said, glaring at him.

"N-nothing Professor." Sirius stuttered.

**"Now what?" said Aunt Petunia, looking furiously at Harry as though he'd planned this. Harry knew he ought to feel sorry that Mrs. Figg had**

**broken her leg, but it wasn't easy when he reminded himself it would be**

**a whole year before he had to look at Tibbles, Snowy, Mr. Paws, and**

**Tufty again.**

**"We could phone Marge," Uncle Vernon suggested.**

**"Don't be silly, Vernon, she hates the boy."**

Hadrian smirked at a fond memory of what happened the summer he turned 13.

**The Dursleys often spoke about Harry like this, as though he wasn't**

**there - or rather, as though he was something very nasty that couldn't**

**understand them, like a slug.**

Remus and Sirius snorted. "James would be turning in his grave. He was terrified of slugs." They explained.

Harry giggled.

**"What about what's-her-name, your friend - Yvonne?"**

**"On vacation in Majorca," snapped Aunt Petunia.**

**"You could just leave me here," Harry put in hopefully (he'd be able to watch what he wanted on television for a change and maybe even have a go on Dudley's computer)**_** that is, if they didn't lock him in his cupboard**_**.**

**Aunt Petunia looked as though she'd just swallowed a lemon.**

**"And come back and find the house in ruins?" she snarled.**

"We're in!" Fred and George cried.

**"I won't blow up the house,"**

"Aw!"

**said Harry, but they weren't listening.**

**"I suppose we could take him to the zoo," said Aunt Petunia slowly, "... and leave him in the car..."**

**"That car's new, he's not sitting in it alone..."**

"Do you even care about him at all?" David snapped. He was getting mad as the story continued. He could have gotten a heat stroke.

"Dear, this hasn't happened yet." Jean said, trying to sooth him.

**Dudley began to cry loudly. In fact, he wasn't really crying - it had been years since he'd really cried - but he knew that if he screwed up his face and wailed, his mother would give him anything he wanted.**

**"Dinky Duddydums, don't cry, Mummy won't let him spoil your special**

**day!" she cried, flinging her arms around him.**

**"I... don't... want... him... t-t-to come!" Dudley yelled between huge,**

**pretend sobs. "He always sp- spoils everything!" He shot Harry a nasty**

**grin through the gap in his mother's arms.**

"Spoiled brat."

**Just then, the doorbell rang - "Oh, good Lord, they're here!" said Aunt Petunia frantically - and a moment later, Dudley's best friend, Piers Polkiss, walked in with his mother. Piers was a scrawny boy with a face like a rat.**

Sirius growled. At the looks he got he quickly explained. "A friend we had was a true rat in more than one sense. He'd better hope he's still hidden once these books are done.

Hadrian smirked. "Don't worry, he gets his due.

Sirius smirked as Remus wondered if they were talking about Peter, which was ridiculous as he was dead.

**He was usually the one who held people's arms behind their backs while Dudley hit them. Dudley stopped pretending to cry at once.**

**Half an hour later, Harry, who couldn't believe his luck, was sitting in the back of the Dursleys' car with Piers and Dudley, **_**smooshed up against the door thanks to Dudley's immense size, **_** on the way to the zoo for the first time in his life.**

"Don't worry, once we're done here, I'll take you there along with a lot of other places." Sirius said.

Harry smiled slightly.

**His aunt and uncle hadn't been able to think of anything else to do with him, but before they'd left, Uncle Vernon had taken Harry aside.**

**"I'm warning you," he had said, putting his large purple face right up close to Harry's, "I'm warning you now, boy - any funny business, anything at all - and you'll be in that cupboard from now until Christmas **_**and never be able to see straight again**_**."**

Remus growled, glaring at the Dursleys.

"Remus, calm down. This hasn't happened yet." Hadrian said.

Sirius shook his head in disgust and continued reading.

**"I'm not going to do anything," said Harry, "honestly.."**

**But Uncle Vernon didn't believe him. No one ever did. The problem was, strange things often happened around Harry and it was just no good telling the Dursleys he didn't make them happen.**

**Once, Aunt Petunia, tired of Harry coming back from the barbers looking as though he hadn't been at all, had taken a pair of kitchen scissors and cut his hair so short he was almost bald except for his bangs, which she left "to hide that horrible scar." Dudley had laughed himself silly at Harry, who spent a sleepless night imagining school the next day, where he was already laughed at for his baggy clothes and taped glasses. Next morning, however, he had gotten up to find his hair exactly as it had been before Aunt Petunia had sheared it off.**

"Can't beat the Potter hair." Sirius said.

**He had been given a week in his cupboard for this, even though he had tried to explain that he couldn't explain how it had grown back so quickly. Another time, Aunt Petunia had been trying to force him into a revolting old sweater of Dudley's (brown with orange puff balls) - The harder she tried to pull it over his head, the smaller it seemed to become, until finally it might have fitted a hand puppet, but certainly wouldn't fit Harry. Aunt Petunia had decided it must have shrunk in the wash and, to his great relief, Harry wasn't punished.**

Arthur shook his head. No magical child should be glad not to be punished for doing what was natural at a young age.

**On the other hand, he'd gotten into terrible trouble for being found on the roof of the school kitchens. Dudley's gang had been chasing him as usual when, as much to Harry's surprise as anyone else's, there he was sitting on the chimney. The Dursleys had received a very angry letter from Harry's headmistress telling them Harry had been climbing school buildings. But all he'd tried to do (as he shouted at Uncle Vernon through the locked door of his cupboard) was jump behind the big trash cans outside the kitchen doors. Harry supposed that the wind must have caught him in mid- jump.**

Severus looked over at him in surprise. "You flew?" He asked, stunned.

"Maybe? I can't really remember." Harry said in a soft voice.

Dumbledore narrowed his eyes. The blocks should have kept things like that from happening. Maybe he should have used the more powerful ones that kept most of his magic away to never be accessed unless he went to the goblins.

Minerva noticed and narrowed her eyes as well. Something was up, she could tell. She didn't think that those were extra protection spells that, having read about them in the last chapter he had cast.

**But today, nothing was going to go wrong. It was even worth being with Dudley and Piers to be spending the day somewhere that wasn't school, his cupboard, or Mrs. Figg's cabbage-smelling living room.**

"You jinxed it." Charlie groaned.

**While he drove, Uncle Vernon complained to Aunt Petunia. He liked to complain about things: people at work, Harry, the council, Harry, the bank, and Harry were just a few of his favorite subjects.**

"I'd say he likes to complain about Harry a lot." Bill mused.

**This morning, it was motorcycles.**

**"... roaring along like maniacs, the young hoodlums," he said, as a**

**motorcycle overtook them.**

"**I had a dream about a motorcycle," said Harry, remembering suddenly. "It**

**was flying."**

**Uncle Vernon nearly crashed into the car in front. He turned right around in his seat and yelled at Harry, his face like a gigantic beet with a mustache: "MOTORCYCLES DON'T FLY!"**

"Mine does." Sirius said, glaring at Vernon.

**Dudley and Piers sniggered.**

**I know they don't," said Harry. "It was only a dream."**

**But he wished he hadn't said anything. If there was one thing the Dursleys hated even more than his asking questions, it was his talking about anything acting in a way it shouldn't, no matter if it was in a dream or even a cartoon - they seemed to think he might get dangerous ideas.**

"No! you are not going to watch them!" Molly told her twin boys. She was pretending to be mad, but was secretly glad about how Harry was being treated. Hopefully the book wouldn't mention what they did, so that they'd have a good chunk of the boy's money by the time he came of age. She and Dumbledore had it all planned out, especially who he would marry. They just had to make sure the plan still went on no matter what. After all, if it did, then the Potter's would die out for good and the Weasley's would be one of the richest families in the wizarding world.

**It was a very sunny Saturday and the zoo was crowded with families. The**

**Dursleys bought Dudley and Piers large chocolate ice creams at the entrance and then, because the smiling lady in the van had asked Harry what he wanted before they could hurry him away, they bought him a cheap lemon ice pop.**

"Yum." Hermione said, licking her lips at the thought of one.

**It wasn't bad, either, Harry thought, licking it as they watched a gorilla scratching its head who looked remarkably like Dudley, except that it wasn't blond.**

Laughter rang throughout the room.

**Harry had the best morning he'd had in a long time. He was careful to walk a little way apart from the Dursleys so that Dudley and Piers, who were starting to get bored with the animals by lunchtime, wouldn't fall back on their favorite hobby of hitting him. They ate in the zoo restaurant, and when Dudley had a tantrum because his knickerbocker glory didn't have enough ice cream on top, Uncle Vernon bought him another one and Harry was allowed to finish the first.**

"Cheapskates." Severus coughed.

**Harry felt, afterward, that he should have known it was all too good to**

**last.**

**After lunch they went to the reptile house. It was cool and dark in there, with lit windows all along the walls. Behind the glass, all sorts of lizards and snakes were crawling and slithering over bits of wood and stone. Dudley and Piers wanted to see huge, poisonous cobras and thick, man-crushing pythons. Dudley quickly found the largest snake in the place.**

"Boys." Some of the girls said, shaking their heads.

"Excuse me, but snakes are great conversationalists." Hadrian said. "Especially since you can never lie in their language." He said then stopped, paling. "Oops?"

"What do you mean, Hadrian?" Augusta asked.

"You'll find out soon enough." He groaned, head in his hands.

**It could have wrapped its body twice around Uncle Vernon's car and crushed it into a trash can - but at the moment it didn't look in the mood. In fact, it was fast asleep.**

**Dudley stood with his nose pressed against the glass, staring at the glistening brown coils.**

**"Make it move," he whined at his father. Uncle Vernon tapped on the glass, but the snake didn't budge.**

**"Do it again," Dudley ordered. Uncle Vernon rapped the glass smartly with his knuckles, but the snake just snoozed on.**

"You'll never get anything in life by acting like a brat." Percy told Dudley.

"Shows what you know." Dudley spat, turning his nose up at him.

Percy shook his head sighing.

**"This is boring," Dudley moaned. He shuffled away.**

**Harry moved in front of the tank**_**, having been standing a few feet away so as not to present a target to be punched and kicked at to his cousin,**_** and looked intently at the snake. He wouldn't have been surprised if it had died of boredom itself – no company except stupid people drumming their fingers on the glass trying to disturb it all day long. It was worse than having a cupboard as a bedroom, where the only visitor was Aunt Petunia hammering on the door to wake you up; at least he got to visit the rest of the house.**

**The snake suddenly opened its beady eyes. Slowly, very slowly, it raised its head until its eyes were on a level with Harry's.**

**It winked.**

"But snakes don't have eyelids." Hermione said.

"Some can move their heads extremely fast, making it look like they blink." Remus explained.

Narcissa and Andromeda nodded.

Severus glanced at Harry. It looked as though the boy was a parselmouth. Snakes always reacted when a speaker was around if he remembered right. Then he glanced at Hadrian, wondering how he knew about the snake talks.

**Harry stared. Then he looked quickly around to see if anyone was watching. They weren't. He looked back at the snake and winked, too.**

**The snake jerked its head toward Uncle Vernon and Dudley, then raised its eyes to the ceiling. It gave Harry a look that said quite plainly: "I get that all the time.**

**"I know," Harry murmured through the glass, though he wasn't sure the**

**snake could hear him. "It must be really annoying."**

Severus paled. It looked like his hunch was correct, but how though. The Potter line didn't have any relation to the Slytherin line, even if one or two married those from the Black line. He thought back to when Hadrian mentioned some of the ingredients to the _Parentus_ potion and his eyes widened. It was almost as if he was basically saying that Harry's parents weren't who they thought they were.

**The snake nodded vigorously. "Where do you come from, anyway?" Harry asked.**

**The snake jabbed its tail at a little sign next to the glass. Harry peered at it.**

**Boa Constrictor, Brazil. "Was it nice there?"**

**The boa constrictor jabbed its tail at the sign again and Harry read on: This specimen was bred in the zoo. "Oh, I see - so you've never been to Brazil?"**

"You're a parselmouth?" Narcissa breathed, eyes wide in surprise.

"A what?" Harry asked, confused.

"A snake speaker." Hadrian explained. "Very rare to find now a days."

"Don't know, I've never seen a snake before." Harry said, shrinking back against the wall.

"A mark of a dark wizard." Cornelius said.

"No its not, Minister. It is a misunderstood gift that has been greatly misjudged because of what one wizard did with it." Hadrian said.

"And don't forget, the symbol for the Greek god Hermes is a rod with two snakes intertwined around it as well. Muggles use it in their healing practices." Remus said.

"That's right." Hermione said.

Harry smiled slightly, while Cornelius glared at Hadrian.

**As the snake shook its head, a deafening shout behind Harry made both of**

**them jump.**

**"DUDLEY! MR. DURSLEY! COME AND LOOK AT THIS SNAKE! YOU**

**WON'T BELIEVE WHAT IT'S DOING!"**

**Dudley came waddling toward them as fast as he could.**

The kids snickered at the image.

**"Out of the way, you," he said, punching Harry in the ribs.**

Remus growled.

Dudley shrank away from him, whimpering slightly.

**Caught by surprise, Harry fell hard on the concrete floor. What came next happened so fast no one saw how it happened - one second, Piers and Dudley were leaning right up close to the glass, the next, they had leapt back with**

**howls of horror.**

"What happened?" Charlie asked, leaning forward in his seat.

Sirius read ahead a bit and started laughing. "Now I get the title of the chapter." He said, snickering.

**Harry sat up and gasped; the glass front of the boa constrictor's tank had vanished.**

The kids started laughing.

"Good one!" Fred and George said.

Dumbledore kept a tight rein on his magic. It looked as though the blocks were breaking. He had to think of a better plan to make sure Harry was under his thumb.

"Maybe he should return with the Dursleys'-" he started.

"No, he is my godson, therefore my responsibility." Sirius interrupted, glaring at him.

"Hard to do when you're a prisoner." Dumbledore said.

"For something I never even did. I never even got a blasted trial." He snapped.

Amelia gasped. "I'll see about getting you one when we're finished here." She said.

"What I want to know is what happened to the will and the list that said where he was supposed to go is." Sirius said.

As the adults pondered that question, a letter appeared in front of them. Ted picked it up and read it out loud.

_Don't worry about it for now. Once the fifth chapter is done, we'll allow three of you to go to Gringott's and see about the will. I suggest that one of them be someone the goblins respect. Also, Bill with be able to help as well._

_There are four in the room that shouldn't be allowed to go, though. Two can't be trusted at all, and the other two can't be to an extent. We'll leave it to you guys to try and figure out whom, so have fun._

_The D.A._

"What does that mean?" Narcissa asked.

"Exactly what it sounds like. Not everyone in this room can be trusted. Be wary of whom you tell your secrets to." Hadrian said.

Minerva shot a glance at Albus who was trying to figure a way he could be included, so that they would be given the fake will instead of the real one, thus finding out what he did.

Bill nodded. "I'll go, then, as I'll be able to ask for someone who can help us find what we need."

"I'll come as well." Narcissa said, cutting off Dumbledore who had been about to object to Bill's going.

"As will I," Minerva said, agreeing.

"With that settled, lets finish up this chapter, then." Hadrian said, nodding to Sirius to continue.

**The great snake was uncoiling itself rapidly, slithering out onto the floor. People throughout the reptile house screamed and started running for the exits.**

**As the snake slid swiftly past him, Harry could have sworn a low,**

**hissing voice said, "Brazil, here I come... Thanksss, amigo."**

"A snake with manners. Who knew?" Sirius joked before yelping. Looking around, he saw Andromeda putting her wand back in her sleeve.

"Only shot allowed, as the spell that was used will take any wands away for a chapter that get used in a non-helpful manner such as running a diagnosis." Hadrian said.

Andromeda nodded in understanding.

**The keeper of the reptile house was in shock. "But the glass," he kept saying, "where did the glass go?"**

"Into nonbeing, which is to say everything." Percy said.

"Well done, Mr. Weasley." Minerva said.

**The zoo director himself made Aunt Petunia a cup of strong, sweet tea while he apologized over and over again. Piers and Dudley could only gibber. As far as Harry had seen, the snake hadn't done anything except snap playfully at their heels as it passed, but by the time they were all back in Uncle Vernon's car, Dudley was telling them how it had nearly bitten off his leg, while Piers was swearing it had tried to squeeze him to death. But worst of all, for Harry at least, was Piers calming down enough to say, "Harry was talking to it, weren't you, Harry?"**

**Uncle Vernon waited until Piers was safely out of the house before starting on Harry. He was so angry he could hardly speak. He managed to say, "Go - cupboard - stay - no meals,"**

"ARE YOU MAD?" Jean shouted. "YOU'RE DENYING HIM HIS BASIC NEEDS BY DENYING HIM FOOD!"

Harry shivered at the shout.

Growls sounded around the room and glares sent at the Dursleys or the books, which began to heat up slightly in Sirius' hands. He began to read again quickly, hoping to defuse the tension in the room.

**before he collapsed into a chair, and Aunt Petunia had to run and get him a large brandy.**

**Harry lay in his dark cupboard much later,**_** cradling his arm to his chest. He though it might be broken and sighed,**_** wishing he had a watch. He didn't know what time it was and he couldn't be sure the Dursleys were asleep yet. Until they were, he couldn't risk sneaking to the kitchen for some food.**

Growls of "abuse" could be heard from the adults in the room.

**He'd lived with the Dursleys almost ten years, ten miserable years, as long as he could remember, ever since he'd been a baby and his parents had died in that car crash. He couldn't remember being in the car when his parents had died. Sometimes, when he strained his memory during long hours in his cupboard, he came up with a strange vision: a blinding flash of green light and a burning pain on his forehead.**

"You remember that?" Minerva asked, scared.

Harry nodded.

The Grangers looked confused until Remus, taking pity on them, explained what had happened the night the Potters had died and they paled.

"Poor thing," Jean breathed trying to keep back tears.

**This, he supposed, was the crash, though he couldn't imagine where all the green light came from. He couldn't remember his parents at all. His aunt and**

**uncle never spoke about them, and of course he was forbidden to ask questions. There were no photographs of them in the house.**

"I have plenty of pictures I can show you once we're done with the books." Remus said to Harry.

"As do I. They may be in one of my vaults. Could you ask about it, Cissy?" Sirius asked his cousin.

Narcissa nodded in agreement.

Harry smiled, glad to finally be able to see what his parents looked like.

**When he had been younger, Harry had dreamed and dreamed of some unknown relation coming to take him away, but it had never happened;**

Remus sent a glare at Dumbledore. He had tried to go check on his cub, but he kept getting denied, being told that the boy was safe and it wouldn't do for anyone to take him away from his happy family.

**the Dursleys were his only family. Yet sometimes he thought (or maybe hoped) that strangers in the street seemed to know him. Very strange strangers they were, too. A tiny man in a violet top hat had bowed to him once**

**while out shopping with Aunt Petunia and Dudley.**

"Dedalus." Minerva sighed, shaking her head.

**After asking Harry furiously if he knew the man, Aunt Petunia had rushed them out of the shop without buying anything. **_**That was the first time Uncle Vernon had used the buckle on his belt. He still had the scars to prove it.**_

Severus gritted his teeth, remembering his own childhood. He pulled out some healing potions and headed over to the boy. "These should help. The scars won't go completely away, but they'll be harder to see. There's a nutritional potion in there as well." He said, handing them to Harry.

Harry looked at the vials before taking one, grimacing at the taste. Severus noticed his hands shaking as he held the vials and he sighed.

"Let's take a break after this chapter and eat something." Andromeda said.

"Good idea. I'll make something." Molly agreed. She would be able to slip a small compulsion potion in Harry's food and drink that way.

"That's okay, I'll do it. I enjoy cooking." Andromeda said, narrowing her eyes. She wondered if she had possibly found one of the people that couldn't be trusted. She share a look with her husband.

"I'll help as well." Narcissa said.

Andromeda nodded her thanks as Molly tried to keep back a snarl. It wouldn't do for her to do anything to make people suspect her.

"Sounds like a plan then." Dumbledore said, smiling.

Everyone agreed and Sirius continued, noticing that there wasn't much of the chapter left.

**A wild-looking old woman dressed all in green had waved merrily at him once on a bus. A bald man in a very long purple coat had actually shaken his hand in the street the other day and then walked away without a word. The weirdest thing about all these people was the way they seemed to vanish the second Harry tried to get a closer look.**

**At school, Harry had no one. Everybody knew that Dudley's gang hated**

**that odd Harry Potter in his baggy old clothes and broken glasses, and**

**nobody liked to disagree with Dudley's gang. **_**The one time someone had tried, the girl had ended up in the E.R. after being pushed out the first floor window. As soon as she recovered, the family moved away, never to be seen again. The girl had had an odd look about her, with long, platinum blond hair and dreamy blue eyes.**_

_**She had been made fun of as well, being a grade below him and had tried to be Harry's friend. Piers had noticed and as soon as the opportunity arose, pushed her out the window, breaking the glass.**_

"That's done," Sirius said, marking the page and closing the book.

"Before, you start cooking, I want to know something." Remus said, looking at Hadrian. "You look normal, but you smell like something of shadows and of the night."

Hadrian smiled, sighing. "I should have known that I couldn't hide it from you, Remus. I'm what's known as a Pure. A creature of darkness or light, depending on our coloring. As you can see, I'm a Pure Dark." He said.

Remus' eyes widened. "Those are thought to be legends though.

"We're not, though we're extremely rare. We're the only creatures that the Ministry cannot enforce a registration on as we can be very volatile when angry."

"What's the difference?" Jean asked intrigued.

"It all depends on our hair color. The lighter shades of brown to white are Pure Lights while the darker colors are Darks. We also have a destined mate that is the opposite coloring and the opposite gender. It's a random choice of who gets picked, so a Muggleborn could get it as their inheritance as well." He explained. "The best way to tell what our mates look like is our coloring. The more extreme our hair color is, the farther away our mate's will be. Like with mine, they would be a very light blond."

"Interesting." Jean said.

Andromeda stood and motioned to her sister, heading for where the kitchen was. Soon, sounds could be heard inside of pots and pans being moved and set on something.

"Come on, kids. Let's go see what the other rooms look like." Arthur said, standing.

"We'll stay here, I want to know more." Jean said. David nodded, intrigued.

Sirius got up as well, and they left the room.

Meanwhile, Remus, Severus, and Minerva headed to a side room, to talk about what they'd learned, strong silencing and locking wards being put up as soon as the door was shut.

**Author's note: Well this chapter was a doozy. Hope it explained a lot. Sorry its out so late, people. And thank you for your reviews. Ciao!**

~Selene's Daughter


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